Entertainment

New TSA Software To Nix Invasive Body Scan Images

When the Transportation Security Administration rolled out full-body scanners at airport security checkpoints, it produced images detailed enough to earn the nickname "porno scanners."

Now, the TSA plans to install software in all of these machines that will put an end to the seemingly naked scanned images.

The software eliminates passenger-specific images. Instead, the machine uses a generic image to pinpoint any potential threats hiding under a passenger's clothes that require further screening. If no potential threats are automatically detected, an "OK" appears on the screen and the passenger is cleared.

"By eliminating the image of an actual passenger and replacing it with a generic outline of a person, passengers are able to view the same outline that the TSA officer sees," a TSA statement explains. "Further, a separate TSA officer will no longer be required to view the image in a remotely located viewing room."

The TSA plans to install the software on the imaging technology units that rely on a technology called "millimeter wave" in the coming months. It also plans to test similar software for the rest of the nearly 500 units at airports nationwide that use a different technology called "backscatter."

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